When we visited Porto, at the beginning of March, we stayed in one of the most luxurious 5 star boutique hotels the city has to offer - Hotel Infante Sagres, part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
Location
Located in the very heart of Porto, in walking distance from the best dining and historical places, Infante Sagres is a oasis of peace and quiet, the ideal place to rest after exploring the hills of the magical Portuguese city.
The room
I've always found the combination of red, black and white as super classy. Therefore I was instantly trilled when I saw that our room was decorated in precisely these colors. One other feature of the room was its symmetry. Though this might not be the most clever idea to go after when you decorate a room, as it is very easy to mess up with the lines and stuff, I must admit that the staff at Infante Sagres is pretty good at keeping everything in order.
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| Our room, with the most comfy bed in the world |
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| Though the hotel was renovated only a few years ago, some things are better left unchanged |
Hotel Infante Sagres has the most comfortable bed we've ever slept in. Period.
I love a good bed, and who doesn't? But if you ask my husband, he can tell you just how important my sleep is for me, and how if I don't get a good night's sleep I can be grumpy all day long. When I travel, I usually am so tired that I fall asleep instantaneously no matter what, but that doesn't mean I love hotel beds. Well, I loved this hotel bed so much, my only regret was it didn't fit in my luggage :)
The breakfast
Each morning we had a superb buffet breakfast in the hotel's lavishly decorated 'Boca do Lobo' restaurant. I was repeatedly overjoyed to find smoked salmon between the goodies and some unique original paintings on the walls.
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| 'Boca do Lobo' restaurant where we had breakfast each morning |
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| Though during the hot summer months you can have breakfast on the nearby terrace |
Hotel Infante Sagres opened back in the 50s. It went under a major renovation about 3 years ago, but it kept part of the beautiful decorations.
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| The chandelier in the lobby was out of this world & the stained glass windows of the staircase too |
The lobby
Besides the comfy bed, my other favorite area of the hotel was the lobby.Every times I passed through I gasped in amazement. The old Neo-Barroque style, the out of this world chandelier and the modern pieces of furniture are in the utmost harmony here. The fresh cut flowers, the old style elevators, and the piano where even the guests can play, are details that, no, they didn't make us feel like home, because that would be an understatement, but in a palace.
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| There was a fire in the fireplace every night |
And then, one night, as we were coming back from our fancy dinner at DOP Restaurant, the unexpected happened.
I immediately cuddled in one of the chairs next to the chimney and we just sat there holding hands and talking for hours. That night, and the night after... It was simply too marvelous. We've been married for almost 7 years now, but we always enjoy a romantic atmosphere. And the soft music, the fire, and the dim light were all a perfect match.
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| One night one of the guests was playing the piano. The portraits on the wall are those of the hotel's founder and his wife |
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| The bar |
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| Detail from the conference room |
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| One of the the suites. Dalai Lama himself slept here when he visited Porto. |
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| Detail from one of the suites |
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| Ceiling detail |
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| The gift shop |
For more info, you can check out Hotel Infante Sagres website.
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